Nicole Colantonio: The Amazing Journey of a Survivor by Angie Moskwa

                                       Nicole Colantonio: The Amazing Journey of a Survivor  

       As she rounded the final bend of the track at Relay for Life, an overwhelming feeling came over her. She was part of a group of the strongest, most courageous people in the world; soldiers who had defeated the notorious enemy of cancer and were now walking together as a unified force of vivacity. As they neared the finish line, her knees began to tremble and she could feel a smile creeping up to her ears. She firmly placed her foot on the finish line, declaring victory over the illness that had changed her life. She is Nicole Colantonio, a survivor who defeated cancer at the age of 19.

Sophomore Nicole Colantonio was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease on August 25, 2011, just two days after she had moved back to Stonehill College for job training at the Information Technology Desk. Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease is a type of cancer which is quite common in teenagers and, as the American Cancer Society informs, it originates in the lymphocytes which are part of the immune system. “My first reaction was of pure shock. I knew I had to make a huge change to the whole year that I had planned. I didn’t know who to talk to first or what to do. Everything was happening all at once, it was overwhelming” Colantanio said.

            Colantonio received care at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Jimmy Fund Clinic, the pediatric clinic of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Her case of Hodgkin’s lymphoma disease was the most advanced that doctors at Children’s Hospital Boston had ever seen. Doctors treated Colantonio with a very harsh, European trial treatment which was originally made for adults. “I was really sick for a long time. I couldn’t walk for a while. My hands stopped working and my legs stopped working. I was also eating a lot which caused weight gain” Colantonio said.

Colantonio endured 22 weeks of chemotherapy which included a rotation of three weeks of treatment and then one week of rest. She had to take a chemo pill every day and receive an infusion of chemo drugs once a week. Colantonio also endured 17 radiation treatments, each lasting 50 minutes. She has also undergone three surgeries.

“She is amazingly tough and is beautiful inside and out. Nicole has had such an amazing attitude through the cancer process. It amazes me how upbeat she keeps” Colantonio’s boyfriend Joey Scherr said. Colantonio always kept an optimistic and positive attitude towards life and her fight against cancer. “She was so sure that the disease would not take over her life and she made it seem like nothing could stop her. I was so proud to see how much she grew from being that timid tiny girl into this inspiring role model, not letting this disease get to her” former roommate and close friend Emily Buckley said. Doctors told Colantonio that she might not see her 20^th birthday. Instead of allowing this news to deflate her, she responded with an optimistic attitude, putting all of her energy into getting better. “I thought about all of my future plans such as graduating and getting married. All of these plans were now something I had to fight for rather than a given right. I made these my goals to achieve along with seeing my little sister get better. She is also suffering from an illness” Colantonio said.

Colantonio used the motto “No One Fights Alone” to fuel her fight against cancer. The motto originated from co-workers at the Information Technology Desk at Stonehill College. “The Help Desk people knew first. The next day when I came into work, they were wearing ‘No One Fights Alone’ bracelets and gave some to me. My mom gave them out at work and my sister gave them out at school. In October, a math teacher at my high school passed away from Lymphoma. The color for Lymphoma is green and a lot of people were wearing it in support. It turned into a community type thing. It made me feel so loved that people who didn’t even know me were pulling for me” Colantonio said. 

Colantonio’s parents, sister, boyfriend, and extended family all supported her throughout her fight against cancer. Her parents and sister, Katelyn Colantonio, helped her in every way possible, trying to make her feel as comfortable as they could. Her boyfriend, also a sophomore at Stonehill College, would attend chemotherapy on Thursdays with Colantonio. He would sometimes visit from Thursday to Sunday to be there for her as much as he could. “My first priority was to go to every single chemo appointment. I would sometimes skip entire days of classes every week because I wanted to be there for her so badly” Scherr said. Scherr also showed support for his girlfriend by shaving his head. “I was afraid of how people would look at me. We were both bald and going through the same thing which made me feel better. He knew that I was embarrassed so he kept on doing it” Colantonio said. Colantonio’s extended family was also very involved in her fight and supported her by taking her to chemotherapy appointments and cooking her meals.

While going through treatment, Colantonio also worked hard in her three classes at Stonehill College. Although she was not able to be physically present in the classroom, a student from the class would record the lectures so that Colantonio would be able to watch them from her home. “It was great. My professors were very understanding and would let me write about my experience which helped” Colantonio said. Colantonio received full credit for her LC called “Freud in the Modern World.” She will also be taking a class in Criminology during the summer session at Stonehill College to get back on track with her academics.

            Colantonio also led a Relay for Life Team in April at Stonehill College this year called “Nicole’s Suitehearts.” The members on the team consisted of her boyfriend and the suitemates with whom she planned on living in the fall before she was diagnosed with cancer. “My suitemates all kept up with me throughout my fight. They were very involved and showed their support” Colantonio said. Her suitemate and friend, Chrissy Talbot, describes some of the ways in which they supported Colantonio. “My friends and I tried to support Nicole by being there for her. Her roommate, Kylie Krause, made sure their room was available to Nicole if she needed somewhere to rest. My own roommate, Jessica Ford, participated in Relay for Life for Nicole this past year and walked 100 laps in honor of Nicole. We even photo-shopped Nicole into a picture of our group of friends so she wouldn't feel left out.”

Colantonio also presented a slideshow at Relay for Life which included pictures that depicted her fight against cancer. “I decided to make a slideshow so that people could better understand what living with cancer is like. Through the images, they could picture their life with cancer, making it more personal” Colantonio said. Colantonio also gave thanks to those who supported her in the slideshow. “I was blown away that she put me in it. I didn’t feel like I did anything concrete, but it showed me how much I was a part of her fight” Scherr said. Nicole’s suitemates also found the slideshow very moving. “I thought it was really touching. Like I said before, how much she has grown and how much this experience matured her really showed and I’m so proud to call her not only a survivor but one of my closest friends at Stonehill” Buckley said.

Colantonio is currently in remission and has officially returned to Stonehill College as a commuter student. She is a Communications and English double major who aspires to work in Children’s Hospital Boston in nonprofit fundraising and social work. She is interested in helping children adjust to living life in the hospital and counseling families who are experiencing shock in dealing with their child’s illness. Colantonio also plans to write a book within the next couple of years detailing her experiences fighting cancer. It has been a long and exhausting journey both physically and mentally for Colantonio, but she has crossed the finish line and is quickly re-lacing her sneakers to prepare for the expedition into her bright future.